We are so sad to say that Amber passed away on the 21st January 06. We have with the help of a very kind and caring friend (Ted), decided to create this web page in memory and honor of Amber.
 |
 |
 |
|---|
 |
Amber
was born on the 28th March 2000 and became a member of the McLaughlin
family at the age of 4 weeks whilst still at the breeders. We
had picked her from a litter of 6 puppies and then had the problem
of finding a name for our little bundle. Thanks to Claire’s
Dad we came to choose Amber, and it suited her down to the ground. |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
At the age of 8 weeks we collected Amber
from the breeders in Yorkshire and to our surprise she had been busy
growing frantically in the 4 weeks since we chose her. We knew she
would be bigger, but she had more than doubled in size!!!
|
 |
|||||
Amber loved her new house, especially the garden. It was kind of cute seeing a St Bernard pup running and rolling around in the garden, however visions of a 160 Lb one flashed in front of our eyes. So a fence was quickly built. |
||||||
She was not overly keen on seeing the grass and plants and not being able to get to them, but safety comes first!!! |
||||||
After a roll in the dirt it was time for a bath. This was a relatively simple procedure at first, as she was small enough to be carried upstairs to the tub. As time wore on and the pup grew, the carrying her up and down stairs became more difficult and she had to attempt it herself. Getting up the steep staircase was reasonably easy, getting her down however was not. |
||||||
|
She sat at the top of the stairs staring down for an hour, too scared to take the first step. So we placed a treat on every step to encourage her. Sure enough, step by step and treat by treat, down she came looking ever so cute, with all her baggy skin falling forward over her face. |
||||||
 We were very kindly given a large basket
by a friend and we thought this would serve as an ideal bed for Amber
to sleep in. As you can imagine by this picture, she quickly grew out
of this and subsequently used it as a chew toy. Each morning we would
come down to twigs scattered all over the kitchen and a smaller basket
each day, until there was nothing left but the base. |
||||||
 Luckily
Amber rarely chewed anything in the house, so the basket was nothing
to get upset about; but there was one other item she took a liking
too. Mark’s beloved “Back
to the Future” trilogy set cover came into contact with Amber’s
teething period, Claire came home to the shocking mess of it in tiny
pieces all over the lounge floor. Claire painstakingly taped what pieces
she could find back together and placed the tapes back in the cover
so not to alarm Mark straight away. Fortunately Mark was more amused
by Claire’s efforts than upset at Amber. |
||||||
|
||||||
This was the last time Claire was able to pick Amber up. As you can see this was an effort and was not to be repeated without injury. |
||||||
 As with all living things, Amber grew up
quick and before we knew it she was the 165Lb (75 Kg or nearly 12st)
St Bernard bursting with personality and love that most got to know.
On the 30th September 2004, we all moved
to Los Angeles. With Claire being a lady of leisure and Mark being
able to start work early and finish early, we all got to spend
so much more time with Amber. As time passed, Amber exhibited more
adorable traits, she loved nothing less than and a cuddle with
her Mum and Dad and to sleep at our feet. |
||||||
|
||||||
Apart from her Lion Rug impression and her
love of Guiness, Amber loved her treat ball and looked so cute with
it hanging out of one side of her mouth. She always went to find it
when Mark came home from work and after a play with Daddy, chased her
ball round the lounge trying to get her treat out, it proved hard at
first but with practice she got it out in a matter of a few minutes. |
||||||
|
||||||
With so many
places to go and see in California, we were always off and about
with Amber on some adventure. In November ’04
we took her to Big Bear in the mountains where there was loads of
snow for her to play in and she thoroughly enjoyed herself… |
||||||
|
||||||
Then in January we all went off to Mount
Baldy. With so much traveling planned, we invested in a dog ramp to
help Amber get in and out of her lounge space on wheels, and to our
surprise she took to it straight away. |
||||||
|
||||||
Next up was
Yosemite National Park. We rented a wooden cabin with plenty of
space for Amber to chill out. They even supplied doggy treats and
bowls, there was even a sign saying “Please
wipe your paws”. She was never a dog for long walks, but we
took her to see some beautiful sites and she must be by now the most
well traveled Bernard around. |
||||||
|
||||||
Unfortunately
the next few trips away, Amber could not come. The temperature
at the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas was far too hot for her, so she
was looked after by family and friends. In November of ’05
however Amber was off again to Lake Tahoe, this time with friends
from the UK also. It was a tightly packed SUV with four adults,
an Amber and luggage. Amber did not care though, as long as she
was coming. |
||||||
|
||||||
Amber’s
last trip away was to San Francisco in December, along with another
friend from the UK. |
||||||
|
||||||
Amber really
enjoyed Christmas. She loved the smell of the freshly cut Christmas
tree when it was brought home, and Santa always put really smelly
treats wrapped up under the tree for her. By Christmas Day evening
both Amber and Mark would be tipsy (after a few Guinness’s)
and fast asleep on the floor… |
||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||
 On
the 13 th January ’06 we noticed
a problem with Amber and rushed her down to the Animal Emergency
Center. She was diagnosed with Gastric Dilatation- Volvulus (GDV).
GDV occurs when the stomach rotates along its axis completely obstructing
gastric outflow. They operated on her immediately and the operation
went very well. Unfortunately she developed a complication called “Disseminated
Intravascular Coagulation” (DIC). DIC is when the body’s
blood clotting mechanisms are activated throughout the body instead
of being localized to the area of injury (operation). Very quickly
all her blood clotting factors were used up and not available to
form clots where needed most causing internal bleeding. Amber was
given huge amounts of Plasma containing clotting factors to try and
give her body time to slow down and stabilize. Amber had to fight
for her life. After what was a poor prognosis, she started to improve
slowly day by day. |
||||||
We both visited Amber several times a day to support and help her recovery and feed her as she refused food from others. |
||||||
|
||||||
By Tuesday night
the vets said that she was doing well and it may be good for her
to go home on Wednesday partly because she missed us and fretted
terribly when left alone. On Wednesday however it was discovered
that Amber had a temperature and her blood work showed signs for
concern. In addition she had been diagnosed with a heart condition
(Atrial Fibrillation) which she may or may not have had before
the GDV. They kept Amber in for another 6 hours to give her fluids
etc. through an IV. Later on Wednesday Amber had improved enough
for her to come home for the night. Wednesday night was hard, but
it was wonderful to have her home. On return to the emergency center
on Thursday Amber’s condition had worsened. Thursday night came
the awful news that she had pneumonia. Despite the heroic efforts of
the doctors and staff Amber’s heart could not cope with all
this and she finally arrested on Saturday 21st at 8:30pm as we sat
waiting to see her. Even though the whole week was an up and down
struggle, this news was like a stab through the heart, our baby was
not coming home!! |
||||||
We would like
to give our thanks to Ted Vegvari for being there for us, spending
many hours at the hospital and helping us through the highs and
lows. We don’t know how
we would have coped without Ted, he was Amber’s friend and we
are proud to call him ours too. We would also like to thank Pamela
Piller, a very kind and caring lady who’s Newfoundland’s
donated blood for Amber. Finally we would like to thank Jonnie Quantz
DVM and her staff at the Animal Emergency Center for their heroic
efforts, compassion and courtesy. Without any one of these people
Amber would not have had any chance to try. They gave us overwhelming
support and we are forever indebted to them all. |
||||||
|
||||||
